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A student was taken into custody Tuesday, Oct. 9, after Sunrise Mountain High School administration was informed that they brought a gun to school with the intention of harming themselves.

A phone call was sent out afterwards to parents and guardians, explaining the incident and clarifying that there wasn’t a serious threat. The weapon was not brought to school with the intention of harming others.

A friend of the student warned the 1300’s office about their concern for the student’s mental well-being and asked that they check up on him. The counselor proceeded to check up on the student, but then dismissed them back to class.

It wasn’t until the friend returned to the office, even more concerned, claiming there was a possibility that the student had a weapon and planned to hurt themselves.

“I was instantly notified,” explained Principal Mrs. Llapur. “The school police and I went to the office, where the student already was, because of their friends concern. Then we went to their classroom to retrieve the backpack; which confirmed that there was in fact a weapon.”

Llapur made sure to clarify that even though there was a gun, it was not loaded, nor was it going to be used to hurt anything or anyone related to the school.

After the gun was retrieved, the police handled the rest. Obviously there are legal consequences to be dealt with.

“My heart hurts,” said Llapur. “Things like this make my heart hurt and I’m grateful for the administration for being on top of it the whole way and for that friend who showed concern.”

Luckily, the situation was handled quickly and privately without causing panic or disruption. No one was even aware of what was occurring until the phone call was later sent out.

Llapur later called a quick staff meeting informing the faculty about the incident and to stay on the lookout for any changes in student behaviors.

“I think the staff will definitely be more aware of their students behaviors,” stated Llapur. “We have wonderful staff who care so much already and things like this only make us care more.”

Both the students and staff at Sunrise Mountain have made loads of progress over the years. However, no school environment is safe from issues related to mental health.